It wasn't a paragraph that caught my attention, it was the "running commentary on merchandise, media, and entertainment" (Orlean) that really left an impact. The thoughts are short and change so quickly, but it kept me interested. What else could this unusually profound ten-year-old boy from Suburban New Jersey have to say about pop-culture in the 1980s? Maybe it's because I tend to write in short sentences and change the subject quickly. Maybe it's because, though I never lived a day in the '80s, he mentioned things (Frosted Flakes, Step By Step, Skittles, the Giants, his mom being the most beautiful woman in the world) that I could easily relate to. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it's fresh and gripping.
There was a tone throughout the piece that was very true to that of a ten-year-old and it made me feel incredibly nostalgic. I don't remember what it felt like to be ten. It's been a long time since I felt the freedoms and trivial worries of a ten-year-old, but this piece, despite the fact that my childhood and Colin Duffy's childhood were very different, made it easy to relive and remember. Susan Orlean did an amazing job writing from the perspective of an adult observing and getting to know a child without making it sound demeaning or condescending. It was pure and honest, but it was light and funny and very easy to read. By the middle, I was so genuinely interested in Colin's life that I found myself wondering what he's like today and if he ever goes back and reads it.
I agree with what you said about feeling nostalgic while reading this piece. It caused me to really reach back in my memory to not only what I was like as a ten-year-old, but what my boy classmates were like in the fifth grade. It was almost like being temporarily caught in a time warp--I could see myself as one of the girls in Colin's class who would see him every day as the loud, active boy on the playground.
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this! I found myself shocked at some of the things this little boy was saying, but I can also vaguely remember what it was like to be ten, and feeling like I knew it all; Orlean does a great job of capturing that in a way that brings me back
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this! I found myself shocked at some of the things this little boy was saying, but I can also vaguely remember what it was like to be ten, and feeling like I knew it all; Orlean does a great job of capturing that in a way that brings me back
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